Interprofessional Education with Graduate Students in Dietetics and Speech-Language Pathology: A Sequential-Explanatory Investigation.
David M Rehfeld, Jane Mertz Garcia, Taylor Nading and 1 others
PMID 42520834WHAT IT FOUND
After two one-hour dysphagia team learning sessions, graduate speech-language and dietetics students reported higher teamwork, role clarity, and perceived patient-outcome impact.
Their reflections showed sharper role boundaries and shared risk reasoning.
Key findings
01Students' total and domain scores on the teamwork and role perception scale rose after the sessions.
02Students described moving from broad role descriptions to specific terminology and shared risk reasoning.
03SLP students reported better understanding of both SLP and RD dysphagia roles.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study measured student perceptions, not observed teamwork or patient outcomes. Pre-test scores were already high, so the scale may have had a ceiling effect. There was no control group, so normal coursework and student development could explain some gains. There was no follow-up test, so the study cannot show transfer to clinical practice. The RD sample was small, with 8 students, and RD-specific role-knowledge findings are exploratory. The 23:8 SLP to RD ratio and group composition may have changed how RD students experienced the sessions. The study was done at one institution, and students were enrolled in concurrent dysphagia or nutrition coursework. The debriefing format changed between sessions, which may have affected the written reflections. Several authors were faculty or instructors, so student responses may have been influenced by power dynamics.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The work was funded by a Kansas State University Research Foundation award to the first, second, and fourth authors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the score gains as proof that future dysphagia care will be safer or more collaborative. The study measured immediate student perceptions, had no control group, and did not test later clinical behavior.